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Kudos to Cox

APPARENTLY MEL Traylor needs a bit of a refresher on legislative language.

In the hearing on his eligibility to run for the District 1 state Senate seat, the candidate contended state law calls for residency and voting requirements to be "loosely construed."

It seems Mr. Traylor is a bit fuzzy on the difference between "loosely construed" and "completely ignored."

Even after administrative law judge Michael Malihi found that Mr. Traylor doesn't own, lease or rent property in the district; that he doesn't pay Georgia taxes; and has no car registered in the state nor a source of income here, the candidate contends he still feels like a Georgia resident.

Mr. Traylor has said that his family roots in the district and the fact that he regards himself as a resident should have been the prevailing factor.

Thankfully, Secretary of State Cathy Cox feels like Mr. Traylor has no right to run for office in the Peach State.

At this late date in the election cycle, Ms. Cox is the only official who can disqualify a candidate from a race. In making her decision to oust a fellow Democrat from an important race, the state's top elections administrator was following her longtime policy of adhering to the hearing judges' decisions.

Ms. Cox has proved herself an equal opportunity enforcer of election law, having allowed three challenged primary candidates - two Democrats and one Republicans running for separate seats in the state House and Senate - to stay on the ballot. Ms. Cox also decided against the candidacy of one Republican state Senate primary hopeful, but in each case, Ms. Cox upheld the administrative law judge's decision.

Our outgoing secretary of state should be commended for making the right decision on behalf of Georgians, instead of succumbing to partisanship.

Still, we may not have heard the last of Mel Traylor. He has promised to appeal the secretary of state's decision.

One wonders if someone might play Sancho Panza to Mr. Traylor's Don Quixote. Can no one within the candidate's inner circle convince him that prolonging the inevitable is hopeless?